Davion Mitchell’s technical foul for double-bouncing the ball perfectly encapsulates this year’s doozy. Emotions are high, and you know it’s wrong, but it must be done.

We’re all frustrated watching these snooze fests. I’d rather have a 2007-08 type season with a realistically game-changing draft pick (it was supposed to be) on the board. These Heat aren’t bad enough to potentially make waves in a loaded draft class—well, not bad enough yet, at least.

This week, they became the first Southeast Division team to lose to the Charlotte Hornets, probably the season’s lowest point.

The Heat’s clutch offense is different than the contenders

The Heat’s offense hasn’t operated effectively during crunch time. I’m actually underselling it with that statement. They’ve been pretty horrendous. Miami is 29th in crunch offensive rating.

I hand-tracked every Heat half-court possession in the final five minutes of the deflating Hornets loss. Their 116.7 clutch offensive rating was much better than their season-long 97.6 figure.

ate good looks consistently. Bam has been that player for Miami.

He air-balled a critical 25-footer in the Hornets’ loss, but his numbers stand out. Bam is shooting 53% on 64 clutch shots, much better than Herro’s 29% on 99 shots and Terry Rozier’s 27% on 26 attempts. No other player besides those three has taken more than 20 clutch shots.

As a big, Bam can’t get into these shots as easily as Herro can. He needs ball handlers to make his job easier.

Make or miss, the guard here can use his handle more functionally than Bam to get a shot off. Bam could do what Rozier does, but those contested low-percentage shots shouldn’t be in anyone on the Heat’s diet.

Herro hasn’t made many of these shots, and Bam cannot consistently create the good looks he gets. The poor clutch offense stems from limited creativity, a lack of talent, and predictable possessions.

The clutch offense didn’t lead to the most lifeless loss of the year—it was the Heat allowing Miles Bridges to erupt for 13 points and three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

Charlotte and Bridges got whatever they wanted, posting an absurd 166.7 offensive rating in those last brutal minutes. A loss like that signifies something larger at play.

Heat continue to freefall in a comical division race

The Charlotte Hornets won their first Southeast Division game against the Heat earlier this week. How bad of a team are you getting your first division win in March in an all-time bad division?

The Hornets are tanking, and the Heat losing to them in early March shows what type of season it’s been. The hope of winning the division is almost out of the window, considering how Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, and Zaccharie Risacher are handling business. Miami will either host a play-in game in the 9-10 matchup or go on the road in the 7-8 matchup unless a miraculous turnaround occurs (Dwade, LeBron, Bosh, or Jimmy isn’t walking through that door). That pegs the question: should Miami seriously consider tanking?

We know the Heat way: gladiator-fight to the death even when victory isn’t in sight. Erik Spoelstra has tried everything. The rotation pattern switches on a game-to-game basis. Even if you disagree with the rotations (no fan likes their team’s rotations), you must admit Spo is trying to mix it up.

We’ve seen Terry Rozier in and out of the lineup recently, but the results are the same—mid, middle of the pack, below-average. However you want to sum up the 2025 Heat, you’ll always return to the fact that they’re just not that good of a roster.

Staying out of this purgatory “not good enough to win but not bad enough to be terrible” range requires A. adding a true No. 1 in free agency (unlikely), B. trading for a true No. 1, or C. tank as far as you can for a nice pick in a loaded 2025 draft.

Tanking goes against the basketball gods and principles I believe in, but the Heat are in a funky spot. They’re sliding low enough to get some lottery luck if that’s in the basketball gods’ plan. The Blazers are playing ball better lately, and the Spurs aren’t draft-needy with the nucleus they’ve curated. But DeAaron Fox is out with a pinky injury for the year, so they may be a bit needy.

Pat Riley and Spo would never sign on to a full-on tank, but an inadvertent tank looks like it’s taking place whether they know it or not. Miami is better than a team like the Hornets, but these losses are piling up, and the “we’re just bad attitude” could snowball until the season ends. Tank or not, it’s time to set our sights on some mock drafts as Heat watchers. They need playmaking and a wingy bucket-getter. Keep your eyes open for those archetypes during March Madness.